– JORGE MASVIDAL’S NEXT STEP

by Matt Hill – MMAWeekly.com
Fresh off of his 1:33 first round TKO victory over Matt Lee at the Playboy Mansion last weekend, the always-charismatic Jorge Masvidal spoke with MMAWeekly to discuss his victory, the future of his mixed martial arts career and what it’s like training with one of the top MMA gyms in the world.

Masvidal pulled off what is perhaps his most impressive win to date in his Strikeforce debut as he overwhelmed Lee in the opening moments.

“It was a good performance … I’ve never had a knockout that fast,” he said.

Now riding an impressive six fight win streak, Masvidal’s last two outings each ended by way of knockout.

Before finding quick success in his Strikeforce debut, though, Masvidal fought for Bodog, an organization making a lot of waves in the MMA world.

His last Bodog outing was against the highly experienced former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Yves Edwards. Masvidal fought a great fight against the 43-fight veteran. Midway into the second round, he caught Edwards with a head kick that put an end to his night.

Now it seems that Masvidal has brought his Bodog successes along with him into Strikeforce.

Many fans already know of the recent partnership between Strikeforce and Bodog, and as we have seen with the recent merger of the UFC and Pride, some of the best fights occur only with the conglomeration of two top-level organizations. Masvidal believes that this will be the case for him as well.

“I get to fight all of the high-level guys from Strikeforce and vice versa. So I think it’s amazing.”

True fighters are the ones who look for challenging match ups rather than simply for easy victories. Masvidal is such a man.

When asked how he would feel about the opportunity to fight Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez or both men, Masvidal said, “I’d love to fight them. I’d come out the victor too. I’m dead serious. I’d bet the house on it, whatever I’ve got, I’ll bet on it. If I fight them I’ll put a whoopin’ on them.”

Masvidal continued, “I’ve got respect for them. I’ve seen them fight several times, but if we fight I’m going to kick their butts. I’ll beat them both in one night, you know what I’m saying?”

For many fighters, a large part of success in such a seemingly individual sport comes by having talented teams, fighters and coaches behind them. Such is the case for Masvidal who trains at American Top Team in Boca Raton, Fla., along with some of the most talented fighters in the sport today. So what is it like to have the chance to train with such talented guys?

“It’s fun,” Masvidal responded. “Especially when you’ve got them in succession. I go with JZ [Calvancante] a round, then Din Thomas next, then Marcus Aurelio next and then somebody from a higher weight class that’s also in the top ten … it’s fun.”

He continued, “Your body’s already broken down from three rounds and then before I know it I’ve got a world-class guy in front of me, so it’s constantly pushing me. It will either make you or break you during one of our training sessions.”

The old adage “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” certainly seems applicable with Masvidal’s training regimen and team structure… a regimen that he will no doubt continue to use for each of his upcoming fights in the future.

The only question now is how long into the future are fans going to have to wait until they see this talented man back in action?